...and there are more ! Another set of personal pictures I had spotted on the KiwiBiker forum, posted by "Merv" who kindly gave me permission to copy them here . Merv mentioned that he doesn't look for recognition or real-name credits. I would like to point out however that these pictures were originally taken by Merv's brother when the two of them were spectating at Gracefield and Wanganui for the 76/77 Marlboro series. Sadly Merv's brother passed away a year ago and Merv found the pics while going through his brother's belongings and very generously chose to share them with fellow enthusiasts . I think they are a fitting tribute to Merv's brother since they have a lot of "feeling" in them, specially for amateur's pics.

Let's start off at Gracefield :

Graeme Crosby leads from John Woodley, Jean-Philippe Orban , #4 who is ????? , and our Stu with #1 .....

Brilliant!!!! No 4 maybe Ken Fletcher ( as in Bazza's long time mechanic)

He was indeed, the phrase "long-suffering mechanic" would be more apt for Ken I'd reckon. The helmet was one of two Ron Grant brought out the season before. #31 is the watercooled TR500 (Mk 3 ?) of Steve Dundon, S down the back is the Indonesian Sarsito Sa, H looks awfully like Ninja1950 (I think Gregg Hansford rode G that season) and it looks like George Vukmanovich standing behind the Kawasaki.

BTW that Gracefield shot with Croz leading, that'd be me up in the commentary scaffolding, I mean luxury suite...

He was indeed, the phrase "long-suffering mechanic" would be more apt for Ken I'd reckon. The helmet was one of two Ron Grant brought out the season before. #31 is the watercooled TR500 (Mk 3 ?) of Steve Dundon, S down the back is the Indonesian Sarsito Sa, H looks awfully like Ninja1950 (I think Gregg Hansford rode G that season) and it looks like George Vukmanovich standing behind the Kawasaki.

BTW that Gracefield shot with Croz leading, that'd be me up in the commentary scaffolding, I mean luxury suite...

He was indeed, the phrase "long-suffering mechanic" would be more apt for Ken I'd reckon. The helmet was one of two Ron Grant brought out the season before. #31 is the watercooled TR500 (Mk 3 ?) of Steve Dundon, S down the back is the Indonesian Sarsito Sa, H looks awfully like Ninja1950 (I think Gregg Hansford rode G that season) and it looks like George Vukmanovich standing behind the Kawasaki.

BTW that Gracefield shot with Croz leading, that'd be me up in the commentary scaffolding, I mean luxury suite...

Buffalo Bill Biber pushing the Tr500?. Looks like George to me and maybe Ross Sinclair, Mikes brother being the "tall guy"?

Which Swann Series was that? I am usually wrong but I don't recall Pat ever riding in the Swann Series. But as I said, I'm usually wrong.

....and I never knew that Pat had raced a Kawasaki !

From the article about Murray on the Formula x-treme website :

"In late 1974, on the recommendation of Toombs to TKA manager Neville Doyle, Sayle was offered some guest rides on the team’s spare Kawasaki H2R 750 triple. “The good thing was that I was able to get a lot more race miles racing my 350 and the Kawasaki. The 750 took a little bit of getting used to but it was good once I got the hang off it.”The bike was a George Vukmanovich-tuned Kawasaki H2R that had been ridden by USA Team Hansen rider Hurley Wilvert, and was also raced in Australia by Pat Hennen in 1974."

Actually the flairs would be the TV Commentator......who's name escapes me. Tony?

There was a theory that the chap in the flares is Brian Lawrence but you may be right that it's the TV commentator, and I believe it is Chip Hennen not Robin M. If you look closely there is someone between Lenny and Chip in a Whites Yamaha shirt, probably George Vukmanovich?

BTW - the Shane Kelly photos are mine. I took them at Pukekohe one time when a mate loaned me his Zenit E, an old Russian camera with screw-on lenses. It had no light meter so I had to guess the settings.

Given the interest in this great thread (well done Philippe) I have dug through my photos and located a few more - but at a longer distance. Couldn't afford 300mm lenses on those days. I'll scan them and send them to Philippe to decide whether they are good enough to post as he has his system going.

I was standing on the inside of the track at Puke the year Cal Rayborn was killed - he crashed right opposite where we were standing and I was so mesmerised by his long slide down the straight that I forgot to take a photo. I'm glad I didn't now - the image is still etched on my mind and even 35 years on I don't know that I would have the courage to post it.

And yes, please send me the other pics ! I'll send you a PM with my e-mail where to send them to . If you had a picture of Pat Hennen where we could identify the machine he uses, it would be precious for my personal obsessional quest

I had opened a thread about Cal Rayborn a while ago that you may want to read, since it has quite a few first hand testimonials . It appears some other members of this forum were also present on that sad day at Pukekohe . It's here :http://forums.autosp...howtopic=109584

As to wether Cal raced in a Marlboro Series : I don't think so , the meeting he was killed at was on december 29th if I'm right, and the opening race of the series that you took your pics at must have been a week or two earlier ? Strange, when you think about it, that there were two major races at Pukekohe in such a short time, moreover the december 29th date probably collided with a Marlboro Series race at another track ? Anybody has got the calendar of the 73/74 series ?

There was a theory that the chap in the flares is Brian Lawrence but you may be right that it's the TV commentator, and I believe it is Chip Hennen not Robin M. If you look closely there is someone between Lenny and Chip in a Whites Yamaha shirt, probably George Vukmanovich?

Despite all I've seen so far, I can't help being impressed/appaled by the road surface, trackside hazards and spectators "facilities"....

Warren Willing, Pat Hennen, Stu and John Woodley ?

Yea its surreal. It was always dangerous but we kind of got on with it. One year Pat argued about track saftey and he explained to me ( he was always educating me tbh) that it was'nt how dangerous the track was ,more how safe it could be made with maximum effort. Miles of hay bales..memories

I was marshalling at the Hairpin at the meeting when Cal Rayborn was killed. My friend who I went out to Pukekohe with was marshalling at the point where the crash happened and was one of the first at the scene and witnessed his injuries. He was very distraught, and was silent all the way home.

Went sailing instead after that until some friends were lost at sea and then realised that nothing is actually safe. So maybe bikes were OK after all.

It wasn't a Malboro Series Race according to my memory - it was a bit earlier than that - 1970 or 1971 ?? - by several years

As he had promised , Shane Kelly has sent me another round of pics that he took in december 1973 at Pukekohe, for what was the first leg of the first Marlboro Series

As I secretely hoped , he did have two pictures of Pat Hennen :

....well, at least I believe that this is Pat Hennen, with identical Suzuki US leathers and same helmet design to those of his mentor Ron Grant as pictured earlier in this thread. (only with "Pat" on the chin piece instead of Ron)

As to the machine he is riding, this looks nothing to me like the 750 GT-Rickman Framed - wet clutch etc ... Suzuki he had been using in the US for the 1973 season. It mores resembles the descriptions I have read of the "mag wheeled TR 500 based little weapon" called the Sayonara Special . But I'll let the eperts on here confirm that .

As he had promised , Shane Kelly has sent me another round of pics that he took in december 1973 at Pukekohe, for what was the first leg of the first Marlboro Series

As I secretely hoped , he did have two pictures of Pat Hennen :

....well, at least I believe that this is Pat Hennen, with identical Suzuki US leathers and same helmet design to those of his mentor Ron Grant as pictured earlier in this thread. (only with "Pat" on the chin piece instead of Ron)

As to the machine he is riding, this looks nothing to me like the 750 GT-Rickman Framed - wet clutch etc ... Suzuki he had been using in the US for the 1973 season. It mores resembles the descriptions I have read of the "mag wheeled TR 500 based little weapon" called the Sayonara Special . But I'll let the eperts on here confirm that .

I ended up with that Son of Bitch of a bike. Jon Allnat rebuilt the bike, we went to Ruapuna to challenge my mate John Boote. Race One the clutch fried and as I came out of the hairpin I looked over my shoulder to see Ian Miles on his RD350 flat out with his head down looking at the Tacho. Bang up my butt, broken ankle: never sat on it again. John Woodley says its in the US somewhere.

Buffalo Bill Biber pushing the Tr500?. Looks like George to me and maybe Ross Sinclair, Mikes brother being the "tall guy"?

Good eyes Stu, I reckon that may well be Ross and he's standing beside Gary Boote in the Levi's gear.

The two Indon guys were Hendra Tirtasaputra and Sarsito Sa. Nice guys and Hendra was a pretty good rider. That must have been December 73? because I was there.I travelled in convoy with them and Dale around the North Island. We had their bikes on a trailer which had wooden spoke wheels (which they couldn't believe) and the great JC (who was the driver) would yell "Wagons Ho!" every time we set off. The wheels flexed so much the tyres rubbed the trailer body and JC had a smoke trail following him whenever he had the hammer down.Main thing I remember about Sarsito was that he couldn't keep his hands off the clutch lever and kept welding the clutch pushrods together which we'd have to fix for him nearly every time he rode the bike.